Sinbad is a System 1 game made by Gottlieb in May of 1978.  It's estimated that about 12,950 Sinbad games were manufactured.  The game features 4 flippers, 2 pop bumpers, one 4-bank drop target, , one 3-bank drop target, a 2-bank drop target, and a single drop target.  This game was also sold in an electro-mechanical 4-player game version (similar to how Joker Poker and Cleopatra have an EM counterpart) but only around 950 EM games were made.

It Only Cost $600

I had been looking for a Sinbad for over 2 years and finally got one in August of 2009. I bought my game from Kim (Mr. 68 on RGP and inventor of the Glare Guard and Pinfinity Mirror for Pinball games) after Jim (Gott Lieb? on RGP and owner of JT Amusements) reminded him that I was looking for one. Kim decided after doing some cleaning and ordering new plastics and pop bumper switches, that rather than move ahead with finishing his restoration, that he was willing to part with it for a good price to a friend and fellow collector here in Colorado. The game came with the original CPU board in it that works, but the NiCad batteries were replaced with newer NiCad batteries and it has problems booting up sometimes. The batteries will be replaced with a remote battery pack to avoid battery leakage in the future. As far as the boot-up problems go, this can usually be fixed by replacing a one-shot IC and a couple of capacitors. I've had good luck repairing this kind of a problem on original System 1 CPU boards in the past. The game also came with a new Rottendog System 1 power supply so there aren't any issues with the power supply board. It also came with a complete set of new game cards. Kim really did me a favor selling me this game at this price since it could have gone for a lot more money once completely restored (which was very little effort for me to do).

Jim is a big fan of Sinbad and rates it as his top System 1 game ever made. After playing the game, I have to admit that it is probably the best as well, although I think Joker Poker is either a tie for first place or a very close second. I really like Joker Poker and find its play addictive and I'm beginning to think that Sinbad is the same status after playing a bunch of games.

Replaced The Drop Targets

My first job on this absolutely beautiful looking Sinbad was to replace the drop targets. Someone had put available drop targets in the game that didn't match the originals, so I ordered a new set from Steve Young at the Pinball Resource. Replacing drop targets is always a bit of a pain in the neck, but once you see how nice brand new ones look (and ones that match what came with the game), it all becomes worth the effort. There are several banks of drop targets, but they are contained within two cages that are pretty easy to disassemble and work on, so it wasn't that big a deal to do the work.

Cabinet

The game box has no fading at all and only has a few very minor scuffs here and there. The backbox looks just fine as it is and everything was nice and clean when I got the game so I didn't have to do anything in this area. The one thing the cabinet has, that I wish folks' wound't do, is a small button near the coin door to add credits. For those that are thinking about doing this, please don't! There are many ways that won't damage the cabinet to allow a game to play in Free Play. In any case, the button is a small white button smaller than a dime in diameter, so it isn't all that noticeable. I just wish it hadn't been done.

Backglass Artwork

There wasn't any damage to the backglass artwork at all. The colors are vibrant and I didn't need to triple-thick the backglass to protect it.

Corrosion and Rust

No corrosion or rust at all, the game looks great! 

Backbox

The backbox is solid, no flaking paint, nor does anything need to be done to the backbox. All of the connectors in the backbox are solid and thankfully, the original battery had corroded, but the corrosion was stopped pretty quickly with a new set of NiCad batteries installed and some cleaning of the original CPU board that still works.

Playfield

The playfield looks perfect! There isn't any wear to be seen and it is very bright and shiny when waxed. The only thing I had to do was replace the drop targets and one star rollover that would stick closed now and then which affected game play since the switch would sometimes stay closed. I just snipped off the end of the star rollover from the underside of the playfield, cleaned the star insert with a pipe cleaner and alcohol, and pushed a new star in place. Kim had already cleaned the playfield so all I did was add some more Nano Wax to shine it up (not that it needed it).

Electronics

The game came with a new Rottendog power supply so I didn't have to upgrade the original power supply or replace it with one of my box of original power supplies that I've already modified with new capacitors, transistors, and diodes. Everything was OK from the get-go.

Displays

All the displays are bright and none had leakage or needed to be replaced.

Game Cards

Kim also included the complete set of brand new game cards he bought from the Pinball Resource so all the cards are there. I may create some new cards based on my usual approach of using colored card stock that matches colors in the game, but the cards that came with the game are brand new.

Conclusion

This was a great deal on a Pinball game from a really good guy, thanks Kim! The game needed nothing other than the drop targets I replaced and a star rollover, so I really got a deal on this game and have no plans to sell it any time soon.

Sinbad Manual

Right click here and click "Save As" and then identify a location where you would like to save the manual. Note that the manual does not include the schematics, but is everything except the schematics. The file size of the pdf is about 11 meg, so it isn't a small file.

(click picture to enlarge)

Sinbad Flyer	Sinbad Flyer